In the market for a plasma.........suggestions?

I watch sports a lot, I have a DLP, I do not suffer from motion artifacts at all. Plasma does have a few advantages over a rear pro, and to be honest i never thought i would ever own a rear pro. but for the money, the size screen, and the technology built inside, it blows plasma away.

I cant hang it on a wall and make it look as sexy like as a plasma. In some scenes the colors are darker and richer, the plasma wins there. But that is really where it stops. If you were to wrap all that info up, I really feel someone with a critical eye, who isnt biased towards one type of tv or the other, would pick a rear pro. They are finally getting that good.

I'm sure the esoteric dv-60 is very nice, but it is way out of my budget. My budget for a dvd player is no more than $300. I think that the panasonic th50px60u is the plasma that I'm going to go with, but now I'm not sure which power conditioner to use with the plasma. Should I separate the video side from the audio side with two different conditioners? My ultimate goal is to upgrade the video side while at the same time simplifying any extra clutter from cables,etc. A product such as the PS Audio power director 3.5 would help with the clutter. Is the power director 3.5 a good product and value? Thanks.

Why do you assume you need a power conditioner?

If you want a good surge protector on a budget, consider a Powervar ABC 1200-11 unit often sold on Audiogon (or E-Bay), or the Brickwall PW8R15AUD. Each is around $250.

I've read that most displays benefit from a power conditioner...is this correct? Of course my main concern is to protect all the gear with a surge protector. Are you using one of the units you mentioned Tvad? Thanks.

Bradz,

You asked about viewing distance with a 50" diagonal 16 X 9 screen. The maximum SMPTE viewing distance to obtain a 30° viewing angle is 6.8 feet; the maximum THX viewing distance to obtain a 26° viewing angle is 7.9 feet. The recommended THX viewing distance is 5.6 feet. These distances are aimed at providing an immersive theater experience for movies.

Front projection matches these viewing angle requirements, because the diagonal can easily be 100" or more, but front projection requires a darkend room, a darker environment than you might wish for casual TV viewing. Then there's the bulb life issue.

In any case, I don't think you want to sit 12' from a 50" image. I've read advice of viewing distances ranging from 1.5 to 2.5 diagonal, but 1.5 to 2 seems more reasonable -- assuming you want some immersion, not just an image you can see. (The maximum vieiwng distance for a 50" screen is 18 feet)!

db